300 kidney transplants at Royal Hospital since 1988

Muscat: The Royal Hospital carried out 300 kidney transplant operations with a success rate exceeding 95 per cent since the launch of the kidney transplant programme in 1988.
In a statement, the Royal Hospital said, “Since the launch of the transplant programme, the total number of operations conducted by the Royal Hospital has reached some 300 surgeries, with a success rate of up to 95 per cent. This is due to the qualified and competent medical staff who take care of the patient and donor before, during and after kidney transplants.”
The hospital added that the first steps of the early kidney transplant programme were started in the Sultanate in 1973, through the provision of medical facilities, rehabilitation and preparation of specialised medical staff for the programme.
Previously, the medical staff was limited to conducting all tests of donors and recipients for the purpose of processing them for kidney transplantation outside the Sultanate.
“The Royal Hospital has specialised medical staff with high efficiency and experience in the field of kidney diseases and kidney transplantation. It has received applied and theoretical training in the best international health institutions in the field of kidney transplantation. Adding to this, it follows the latest internationally accepted principles and protocols in the field of kidney transplantation,” it added.
The hospital also said that it uses the best drugs before and after kidney transplants and other drugs used to deal with the expected side effects that the patient and the donor may experience after these operations.
One of the most important challenges facing the kidney transplant programme in the Sultanate is that some patients with kidney failure resort to undergoing kidney transplants outside the Sultanate, according to the hospital.
“These patients seek to obtain kidneys from unknown donors and to plant them in unsupported places and in conditions that do not comply with international standards and standards used during kidney transplantation. The majority of them suffer acute side complications, causing a chronic deterioration of their health and they may even lose their lives as a result,” it explained.